Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department to Set Up AI System to Boost Crime Solving Efficiency

The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department has announced its plans to establish a new AI system to expedite the process of handling digital evidence. Notably, the new AI system could process up to an hour of surveillance camera footage, or about 6,000 images, within seconds to resolve crimes involving digital evidence.

In a press briefing, Senior Inspector Wong Wai-kei of the department’s computer forensic laboratory stated, "The accuracy of our system is around 80 percent. This 80 percent figure is based on our previous training data. This accuracy can be influenced by various factors, such as data volume or complexity.”

"However, our technical personnel are currently fine-tuning this system. We hope to improve our data model and increase accuracy."

The Customs Office has yet to set the date for the incorporation of the AI system into its daily operations. However, Chiu Kat Wu-lan, acting assistant staff officer in the department, said Customs was “proactively exploring the use of new technologies” to enhance its capabilities in handling digital evidence and helping it combat tech crimes.

The South China Morning Post reported that dozens of team members from other divisions will be deployed to crime scenes to provide technical support when necessary.

Furthermore, Chiu emphasized that the AI system would not replace officers’ duties and that they would be responsible for verifying forensic results generated. Customs noted that developing the entire system would cost about HK$600,000.